Conor vs Khabib in 2018 was a wild wild time! While Khabib Nurmagomedov came out looking like a million bucks and made more, Conor’s antics leading up to the fight burned away a lot of goodwill he had earned from his rags to riches story. But UFC’s local Bad Guy, Chael Sonnen believes that the Irishman was just “doing his job“.
Speaking to his Good Guy/ Bad Guy co-host, Daniel Cormier, Sonnen backed the 35-year-old for his drama and theatrics leading up to the Khabib fight at UFC 229 in 2018. He claimed that the Irishman was working double time because he understood that if he wanted to get paid fighting a then unknown Russian guy, he would have to work extra hard.
Sonnen added:
“I’m going to have to go extra hard and that was what Conor’s thoughts were. Conor knew there was a line, he just kept moving it, he kept pushing it. Conor was just trying to do his job.”
Of course, for context, McGregor threw a chair at a bus injuring someone, got arrested for it, talked about Khabib’s wife, his dad, his religion and acted like a goon in a street fight before tapping out during the actual fight.
This of course, pales what Sonnen had done throughout his career but this Conor was Chael Sonnen dialed to 11. So its no surprise that the former middleweight fight believes this was just a job.
Now, while one may or may not agree with what Conor did or what Sonnen believes he did, the fight drew in global numbers unlike anything the UFC had seen at the time.
Which is why despite the six long years after their initial meeting in 2018, the fandom is awaiting for a rematch. And guess, what? McGregor has opened up about the same just that it won’t ever happen!
Conor McGregor opens up about Khabib rematch
For the longest time the Irishman seemed to have wanted a rematch, another shot at Khabib. Unfortunately, that cannot come to pass since the Dagestani has retired. And now, having waited for so long, McGregor has claimed that he doesn’t care anymore.
The former double champ, Conor McGregor has ruled out a possibility for a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov in BKFC. Despite the two ending their differences in the cage back in 2018, the animosity between the two still rages on.
While Nurmagomedov maintains composure, the Irishman seems like he is still salty over his loss, taking digs almost all the time, trying to discredit the former undefeated champion.
Recently, McGregor who has just become a partner/investor in BKFC was asked if he would ever rematch the Russian bare knuckle. To which he said,
“Who the f*ck is that? Who the f*ck is that guy? Hahaha! The guy [Nurmagomedov] won’t even fight. The thing that attracts me to this game is that these are bad men and woman in this company ready to fight.”
Conor got asked a question by Conor at BKFC media day 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/EZSh3hFlUx
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 18, 2024
Poking the Russian with a sly one, McGregor deemed that Khabib wouldn’t even show up for the bout even if he agreed to it. Despite years after the fight, the bad blood between the two still wages on, and if the stars align, we might as well have a rematch between the two.